LIMA, Ohio (WLIO) – A local service club is preparing to get its hands dirty to address a growing need—pollinator gardens.
The Lima Kiwanis Club hearing from Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District (JAMPD) on how to establish gardens that will provide essential food sources for bees, birds, butterflies, and other pollinators. Dan Hodges, nature education supervisor for JAMPD, spoke to the club about how they can make a difference.
The Lima Kiwanis Club hearing from Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District (JAMPD) on how to establish gardens that will provide essential food sources for bees, birds, butterflies, and other pollinators.
The Kiwanis Club and two of its sponsored clubs plan to plant pollinator gardens this spring. According to Hodges, gardens can be any size and are easy to maintain.
“You can have containers in front of your apartments. You can put great, beautiful garden plants in that space,” Hodges said. “If you have formal landscaping, you can put native plants that support our native pollinators in that space. Of course, you can have a pollinator plot where you let things go a little more wild or natural. But really, formality is a function of the gardener—the plants can fit wherever we need them to.”
Some suggested plants for pollinator gardens include coneflowers, sunflowers, and even violets.
Some suggested plants for pollinator gardens include coneflowers, sunflowers, and even violets. More information on creating pollinator gardens can be found on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website, usda.gov.
